jon: all the people on stage with me. singers from phantom of the opera. beauty and the beast, and me. cut me some slack. jenna: i think you sound great. jon: thank you for joining us today. jenna: "america live" starts right now. megyn: sounds sounds are sounds great is right. fox news alert a stunning turn in the numbers for this election as a wide lead for the president has all but disappeared with just 22 days to go. welcome to "america live," everyone, i'm megyn kelly. just take a look at the numbers. on september 30th the "real clear politics" average of all polls had the president 74 electoral votes ahead of governor romney. when you looked at how it's likely to turn out in terms of which way states were leaning they used the polls to calculate at that point that the president had 265 votes, just about locked

up, compared to just 191 for governor romney. you need 270 to win. fast forward to today, and we see the predicted 74-vote gap has shrunk to a mere 10 votes, and with the momentum now going to the former governor of massachusetts it is hard to imagine how there could be more on the line for these two men tomorrow night at the next presidential debate. chris stirewalt is our fox news digital editor and host of "fox news live." i know you don't say i told you so. but you came on this broadcast in the face of all these polls for weeks and pundits i should add who were saying, it's over, it's over, barack obama has this race sewn, don't bother watching for the next six weeks or eight weeks, oh, where is he going. >> i'm here, coming back. >> very unceremonious of your camera machine as i'm giving you a moment of glory.

>> we can't just have nice things, megyn, they don't want us to have nice things. megyn: we don't know how it will turn out on november 6th but this is a horse race. >> not only is this a horse race we knew something before that the convention alwisdom didn't reflect was that in all these states where there had been scarce polling the democrats said, oh, he's got wisconsin seaso sewn up, michigan is sewn up. new hampshire. people were making broad assumptions about how the fall race was going to turn out. we have known all along, you and me is what would happen is people would do their very best to ignore the election until they absolutely had to. the bee depwaeugts were the cue moment, now we have to get serious about this race, what was going on. people are reconsidering their options about what is going on and blamo you get to a very tight race and you get to a point where mitt romney goes into this second of three contest with the wind at his

back. megyn: blamo. look at the difference there when you talked about how this race had yet to be decided, and you talked about how folks were going to make up their minds in october and mentioned specifically the fact that we had three presidential debates coming in october, i wonder if you really knew what a difference the debates could make. i mean, look at that, from 265 presumed electoral votes in his column, now down to 201. 64 more electoral votes in question, with big question marks over them about whether they are going to go blue or red and that makes the difference of who wins this white house. that first presidential debate, chris, just try to under score for us its importance and relate that to whether tomorrow night is equally important. >> we suspected that it would be good for mitt romney as long as he didn't make a hreug error that he would get that luster that comes from being on stage with the president that he would be much closer to the plausibility bar. instead what happened was he turned in the performance of his

career. he did a tremendous job. the president looked crabby and unhappy to be there, and mitt romney looked like a happy warrior and went out after the president and it was another blamo moment. and it changed the race in a very real way. when you think about the swing, that electoral swing that you're talking about, that came as people said, oh, this guy, this mitt romney he's not a vampire in fact, and he is not all of the terrible things that the obama campaign has said he is and he seems like applausable guy. megyn: but now the stakes are even higher for the president going into tomorrow night. it's a different for phafplt it's a town hall format. unlike with jim lehrer15 minutes segments. you question the guy, one guy gets two minutes, one guy gets two minutes and discuss for the remainder. this is smaller where the town hall participants will ask a question, two minutes, two minutes and one minute to discuss. how does that change things for a president that may now need like he needs to come back.

>> nassau county is a suburban county on long island. these are undecided voters. these will be suburban folks moms and dads who will sit in the audience there and ask questions of these two candidates. this is an uncomfortable place to make the attack. the right place would have been in that head-to-head debate with lehrer and do that and go after mitt romney on these personal charges that the president has based largely his re-election campaign on. it's a lot harder to do that when a mom is telling you about what she's worried about for her kids, or a husband is telling you that he's worried about his wife, and her medical bills, or something like that, that is a much tougher tote and it's not a good environment for the president to say, oh, mitt romney is a liar, or a flip-flop error a vampire, whatever else the president wants and his advisers tell him he wants to say, this is a much tougher place to do that. megyn: the folks sitting right around you take the edge off a

little but they necessarily will take the edge off a little but lest you look rude to your opponent. >> quite. megyn: we'll see tomorrow night. stirewalt always good to see you. right once again. >> thank you, ma'am. megyn: we'll talk about this controversy involving tomorrow night's moderator candy crowley. there are all sorts of controversy that is coming up about her and her role, we'll talk about it in just a bit right here. governor romney is spending his day getting ready for tomorrow night's debate. vice presidental candidate paul ryan is on the campaign trail speaking here at a stop in cincinnati. you can watch his full remarks if you would like streaming live at foxnews.com. president obama is also spending the day preparing for the debate. again we'll have more in a bit on the mod raeurt, she i moderator. she is a cnn anchor. candy crowley. some are raising concerns about the role she'll play in this

debate at hofstra. both candidates and campaigns are complaining about her performance and she hasn't even begun her performance yet. your heart has to go out to her on some level. we will talk about it fair & balanced right here. my colleague bret baier and i will be coanchoring our coverage tomorrow night. special coverage begins at 8:55pm eastern time. we'll show you the entire debate and stick around for complete analysis afterward. we'll have our cast of regulars including hume and krauthammer and everybody else you've come to expect on fny on these big nights. hope you'll be with us. on the economy, on jobs on foreign policy this election is certainly shaping up to be one of the most critical in recent memory, maybe even more evident by the fact that whoever wins the presidency on november 6th could wind up appointing, well nominating several supreme court justices over the next four years. vice president biden pointed that out the other night. shannon bream live in washington with a look at that piece of t

the stakes going into the election. >> reporter: with issues from gay marriage to affirmative action on the court's radar these days, every appointment or nomination has the power to shape the supreme court and the country for decades to come. there are now four justices in their 70s, route bader ginsberg and steven breyer were appointed by president clinton. scalia and kennedy are both 76 appointed by reagan. when asked they say presidential politics do not impact their decisions about when they will retire but it's highly likely the next president is going to have the opportunity to make multiple nominations. weeks ago governor romney said this about the supreme court, quote i hope to appoint justices for the supreme court that will follow the law and the constitution and it would be my preference that they reverse row v wade. many watchers say a second term

for president obama would reach further left to future nominees. >> he may reach out for someone who doesn't have a track record for judicial opinions. someone who is serving in politics who doesn't have that long pedestrian today kraoe of writing jew judicial decisions, but who the president will be fairly confident will share his positions on liberal issues. >> it doesn't matter how much the president vets any tomorrow knee, once on the bench it's a lifetime appointment and they ask act freely. megyn: thank you. growing questions on the sunday news shows about this administration and how it is handling the questions about this terror attack in libya. >> as we say, we asked the administration for a spokesman, they declined to send one. we'll be back in a moment. megyn: we'll take a look at the new controversy. we will play you the heated exchange between obama a's

senior adviser david axelrod and fox' own chris wallace when mr. axelrod doubled down on the suggestion that these deaths are our ambassador and three others are being politicized by governor romney and congressman ryan. we'll take a closer look at the charge. one state's plan for equal education is raising serious concerns of racial profiling. we'll tell you about a proposal to use students race annette is in satisfactory tee to determine their academic goals. a man hit from 24 miles in the air and hit a speed of 833 miles an hour during his fall. can you imagine? how is it possible that this death defying jump did not break every skydiving record known to man? we'll take a look and tell you more about the man who just broke the speed of sound. >> when i was standing there on top of the world you become so humble, you do not think about breaking records any more. you do not think about gaining

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megyn: scary moments on board a us airways jet out of tampa florida. flight 265 had to make an emergency landing because of a huge crack in its windshield. the jet had 119 passengers on board. it was headed to phoenix, arizona but the pilot diverted the plane to new mexico to be on the save side. the plane made a safe landing and passengers were rebooked on other flights. it got some attention when former nbc news man tom brokaw this weekend suggested that the president has tough questions to answer tomorrow night about the national debt. our debt passed the 16 trillion-dollar mark just earlier last month. that is up $5.5 trillion since

the president took office. the national debt and the bloated budget both something brokaw says the president must take responsibility for. >> i looked at that debate that we talked about a moment ago, it was playing last night on c span and governor, now 0 president obama was saying, look weave have a deficit of a half a trillion dollars. i'm going to get that under control. this week that deficit is $1.1 trillion and it happened on his watch. he's going to have to answer to that. megyn: joining me now lou dobbs host of lou dobbs tonight on the fox network and a syndicated video host. is it now to the point where even folks on both sides of the aisle are concerned about this debt and demanding answers? >> i think you're right about that, i think -- samuel l. jackson famously put it, i think americans are beginning to wake up, even those on the left.

megyn: i thought he said, i am sick of these -- snakes on this -- plane. >> that's right. and he used the same language in this most recent declaration, it was time to wake up, about which if not his language i agree with the sentiment. brokaw has been long an icon of the mainstream liberal media in this country. he says it, this is what mitt romney has been saying and the heritage foundation has been something and the congressional budget office has been saying. ross perot for kroeug out loud has beecrying out loud, has been saying it. brokaw breaks from his cocoon of liberalism and says it's about time someone should be held responsible. it's more than time it's past time. the fact that he said it to whatever degree it galvanizess focus on the fact this this president hasn't put forward budget in the united states

senate which hasn't passed a budget for three years, and it's time for people to wake up for what this president is responsible for. we are talking about 23 million people unemployed, out of work, given up looking for work. megyn: it's sort of like the annual number we add to the debt, the deficit and the big mama the debt. and so thins 2009 he took office 1.4 trillion added. 20,101.3trillion. 20,111.3trillion. 20121.39. he says i inherited a mess, which he did. we had two wars that he inherited as well that i didn't start, one of which i ended and one of which i'm trying to end. >> what president could not say the same thing, though in degree or otherwise that he inc inherited a situation. he also inherited a budget for

that first year. in 2009 he inherited a budget. it's what he's done every year since. those budgets have been trillion dollar-plus budget tke deficits. he has an absolute anathema towards personal responsibility. taking credit seems to be no problem. to hear him tell it you'd think he was right there with seal team six when osama bin laden was taken down. but he's nowhere present when it comes to his trillion dollar deficits, when it comes to 23 million people out of work, he's nowhere present when we see the gdp growth rate fall from 2.4 in 2010, drop then to 1.8 in 2011 and now in the second quarter the most recent reading is 1.3%. where is he? megyn: to what extent will the american people be conscious of this? brokaw points out in the last debate when he was running for office he was saying, look we've got a deficit that is the annual amount that we add to the red ink. we have a deficit of half a

trillion. i read you the numbers. we've added more than a trillion every year since barack obama has been in office. i'm going to get that in control. we've gonna different route. he also said this on the campaign trail when he was running to office that it would be unpatriotic to have such high debt and deficits. >> the problem is the way bush has done it over the last eight years is to takeout a credit card from the bank of china in the name of our children, driving up our national debt from $5 trillion for the first 42 presidents, number 43 added $4 trillion by his lonesome, so that we now have over $9 trillion of debt that we are going to have to pay back. $30,000 for every man, woman and child. i feel responsible. it's unpatriotic. >> unpatriotic, irresponsible? an also said that he would

reduce that budget deficit by half in his first term in office. failing that promise it may well be his only term in office, megyn. megyn: he likes to blame the bush tax cuts and he likes to blame in part those two wars. >> right. megyn: all three of those existed prior to the point that he made that promise. >> right. megyn: he knew about those when he made that promise. that was july. the implosion happened in mid september on wall street and so onment so, you know, the money he did for stimulus spending, the slow in the growth of the economy, can't he get some credit for not for seeing that and getting that under control. >> i give him all the credit in the world, he got elected. john mccain didn't. now what have you done for us? what have you achieved as president of the united states? one of the things that the national liberal media -- i mean, tom brokaw stands as an icon of the liberal media which refuses to acknowledge that this

economy went into recovery in july of 2009. it is now october 2012, and what has he done? and the answer is, i'm afraid not enough, especially for 23 million americans. megyn: we're going to hear more i'm sure tomorrow night about those other items, the bush tax cuts. >> we are going to hear about it and what is great in this is we can hope that the national liberal media establishment will begin to pay attention, that it's time to hold our public leaders, but in particular the man in charge accountable. brokaw had a great idea in that. megyn: we are told they are very focused in winning back the women in this election, the obama campaign. women care in the top tier about the deficit. they care about the deficit significantly more than they care about issues like abortion and that is something that team obama needs to focus on tomorrow night according to the pundits. thank you. the new twist in the drama about a 14-year-old girl attacked by

the taliban on her way home from school. she was gunned down because she fought for the right to go to school. we'll have a live report on what is a global effort to save her life and track down the men who tried to take it. we saw new signs over the weekend that the obama campaign is planning a new attack on governor romney's honesty during the debate tomorrow. wait until you see who is here on that. will come together. delicious and wholesome. some combinations were just meant to be. tomato soup from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. then you may be looking for help in choosing the right plan for your needs. so don't wait. call now. whatever your health coverage needs, unitedhealthcare can help you find the right plan. open enrollment to choose your medicare coverage begins october 15th and ends december 7th. so now is the best time to review your options and enroll in a plan. medicare has two main parts, parts a and b,

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megyn: supersonic skydiving man, felix baumgartner says his death defying faith leap was quote like hell, it was terrifying. and it was terrifying for those of us who watched it live. trace gallagher o more on what went wrong. >> they are calling him a cross between neil armstrong and evil

ka tphaoef very well. you step off the edge of that capsule and out you go, and you fall for four minutes and 20 seconds, 119,000 feet straight down. i want to show you, if i can, what the ten to 20 seconds right after the jump looked like. this is taken, by the way, from his space suit, and you can see where he kind of starts spinning uncontrollably, right. they call this the death spin. when i first saw it i mean we covered this for months we thought, hey, this is it, this guy is done for. somehow he was able to correct. he said it was like hell, right? terrifying? experts say he could have suffered shortness of breath, vision failure, unconsciousness, even his eyeballs bursting because of the pressure. he was able to pull out of it, 833 miles per hour, that is mach1.24, one and a quarter times the speed of sound. he said he continue tell how fast he was going, right, because the space suit he continue hear the rush and because of the fact that he

couldn't hear the sonic boom that he created. here he is after the jump, listen. >> you do not think about breaking records any more. you do not think about gaining specific data, the only thing is you want you want to come back alive, you know, you do not want to die in front of your parents and girlfriend and all these people watching this. this became the most important thing to me when i was standing out there. >> he fell 119,000 feet. that is 4 minutes 20 seconds. he did not break the record for longest fee fall. that is held by miss mentor joe kittinger at 5 minutes 30 seconds. 8million people watched this on youtube, there were 40 networks covering it from 50 different countries and it happened on the anniversary of chuck yeagar breaking the speed of sound barrier in a jet 55 years ago. he says he's done and he's going to back to flying helicopters and spending time with his

girlfriend. believe me he earned it. what an amazing thing to watch. megyn: oh, my gosh. it's terrifying. that takes a lot of guts. a lot of guts, maybe a little few screws loose too. trace, thank you. >> when we saw him spinning, megyn we thought he was done. when i saw him spinning i thought this guy is done. that's the thing he feared enough was that spin. megyn: that's why they call it the death spin and you're in it. that is definitely on the bad fact list. all right, trace, thank you. >> okay. megyn: coming up americans vow to practice liberty and justice for all in this country. why are schools in one state considering different test standards for students of different racial backgrounds? we'll investigate. plus, obama campaign senior adviser david axelrod adding new charges to the suggestion that the romney campaign is guilty of poe lit sizing the terrorist attack in libya. is that what this is about? we'll have a fair & balanced debate next. >> david, david, david, wait a

minute. this is the first u.s. ambassador that has been killed since 1979. susan rice came on this show and five others and gave the american people a story that turned out not to be true, and you're saying that we shouldn't discuss this. that we should wait for the investigation to be completed? overmany discounts to thine customers! [old english accent] safe driver, multi-car, paid in full -- a most fulsome bounty indeed, lord jamie. thou cometh and we thy saveth! what are you doing?

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megyn: well, new drama this weekend over charges that

governor romney is trying to politicize the terror attack that killed four americans in libya on 9/11 of this year. senior campaign adviser david axlerod was on fox news sunday with our own chris wallace this weekend. when chris asked about the obama campaign's suggestions that this story would not be getting so much attention if it weren't for the romney team. >> this morning in bloomberg news chris stevens' dad said that he regretted that people were trying to exploit this issue. and i think we ought to follow the lead of the ambassador's family and allow this investigation to run and get to the bottom of it and make the adjustments that are necessary. by the way in that -- >> wait, wait, wait, wait a minute, david -- >> in that same interview -- >> david, this is the first u.s. ambassador that has been killed since 1979, susan rice came on this show and five others and gave the american people a story that turned out not to be true, and you're saying that we shouldn't discuss this, that we

should wait for the investigation to be completed? >> no, no -- >> that's what you just said. >> no. chris, calm down. that's obviously not what i'm saying. i -- >> you just said, wait a minute, you just -- >> i'm happy, i'm happy to discuss it with you. and i do think that it's worthy of discussion. i think that's different than the manner in the which governor romney has conducted himself, and it's not just me who attacked him for the way he handled this. he was roundly criticized by people who rig to left, the re-- from right to left -- >> you're talking about what he said the day after the attack, you're talking about what he said -- i don't think anybody is criticizing him for what he is saying now except the obama campaign. >> well, i'm just telling you that from the beginning of this issue before any facts were known, he was cravenly trying to exploit it. megyn: joining me now, brad blakeman, former deputy assistant to president bush, and

dick harpootlian. welcome back to the program, brad, what did you make of that exchange? >> thank you, megyn. >> it's a desperate attempt, this is the 3-d strategy of the obama campaign to distort, distract and divide us. we're not going to be divided when the american people were lied to by the very high officials we expect truth from whether it's the president, the secretary of state, our u.n. ambassador at the u.n. clearly, their stories have changed numerous times. first it was a youtube video, then it wasn't a terrorist attack, and then jay carney very recently came out and said it was quite evident it was a terror itself attack. romney knew that there the very beginning, that protesters don't come to protests with rpgs and machine guns. we understood what it was. the president, it doesn't fit his political narrative that osama's dead, al-qaeda's gone. al-qaeda's alive and well and killing american people, and we deserve answers. megyn: dick, how can the obama team claim that this is all -- the reason we're discussing this

is because the romney team has been politicizing it? wouldn't it be a political issue in the press even if romney never said a word about my of it? >> -- about any of it? >> i think this is an issue that needs to be examined, but, you know, as i read more and more about this, you know, initially governor romney said that more security had been requested by senator, by ambassador stevens, and that's what, why he didn't have adequate security with him in benghazi. let's hook -- look at the facts. there was security requested and some given for tripoli, and that's where all the talk was about. for some reason the ambassador with inadequate security, admittedly, went to benghazi on september 11th. no question about that. we don't know two things. a, how did -- if this was such a well planned attack -- how did al-qaeda know he'd be there that day, number one, and, number two, why did he feel he should go to benghazi with

inadequate security? there's some story here we don't know yet, and we don't know who would have enticed him to come there, we don't know why he went there, and i think this is something that needs to be developed and investigated and not in the public context. this is security. this is national intelligence. now, having said that, the reason most of us are upset with governor romney's position is he is a guy who has said i'm going to do the same thing for afghanistan, iraq as george w. bush did -- megyn: yeah, but this is different. i follow you so far, but this is -- on libya he can't say that, you know, well he -- >> four, four dead in libya, 5,000 in iraq, 2,000 in afghanistan, and romney wants to stay in afghanistan -- >> let's go back -- megyn: yeah, but you're off point, dick. we're talking about libya right now. go ahead, brad. >> yeah, let's go back to libya. first of all, joe biden in his vice presidential debate had no problem blaming who for the lack of security?

congressman ryan. now, let me say this. the obama administration can find $700,000 to spend on a soccer field for terrorists to have recreation at guantanamo, but he can't find enough money for adequate security against al-qaeda who's looking to slaughter americans. this is, this is an outrage. the fact that even joe biden would allege, again, shifting the blame away from the administration, to paul ryan that somehow now he's responsible, congress is responsible. no, the president is responsible. the state department is responsible. and to say they had a lack of funds when they were pleading for extra security is a fallacy, and it's a question of leadership -- megyn: well, look, the state department spokesman also said the reason there wasn't adequate security over there was not funding. that wasn't -- congress' denial for funding was not the reason. so that's not exactly on the table. but, dick, i want to get back to my question to you. is it fair to suggest that if team romney hadn't, hadn't been

talking about this to some extent it wouldn't be a story in you're telling me chris wallace would have no interest in what was happening in libya but for what romney has saidsome. >> there is a story, but the vitriol and the tenor of romney/ryan about this is an attempt by them to use these very, the deaths of these very brave americans as a political wedge. this is, this is, you know, i think it was teddy roosevelt said patriotism is the last refuge of tie rants, and they're attempting to wrap themselves in the flag in the deaths of these poor americans in an attempt to distract from -- and the reason i talked about afghanistan and iraq and syria, that's their forum for distraction. megyn: you say tone and tenor, but it's been said romney almost never talks about this, so what specifically has he said or done when you speak about the vitriol

and the tone and the tenor? >> well, the vitriol is what you saw from ryan in the debate the other night where they're clearly blaming the administration for the deaths of these folks. there's a connection here. administration didn't do its job, these people are dead. there's no evidence to suggest that. >> sure there is, there was a lack of security. you even admitted it. >> no. >> there was also warning that attacks were most likely. this was the anniversary of 9/11 -- >> so why did stevens go to benghazi? why did stevens go to benghazi with inadequate security? we don't know -- >> he shouldn't have inadequate security in tripoli. >> exactly. and he should have had -- megyn: all right, guys. you've teed it up well, and those are questions we'll have to leave for another day. thanks both of you. >> thank you, megyn. megyn: we also have new signs that president obama's campaign is planning a fresh attack on governor romney's honesty and his integrity, especially during

tomorrow night's debate. up next, we will speak with the man who publicly questioned the president's own honesty and who took a lot of heat for it. congressman joe wilson is here after the break. plus, a closer look at this freaky find last week. don't blink, our big eye follow-up is next. ♪

♪ >> there are also those who claim that our reform efforts would insure illegal immigrants. this, too, is false. the reforms, the reforms i'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally. >> you lie!

>> oh! >> not true. megyn: in 2009 congressman joe wilson took a lot of heat for that exchange in which he challenged president obama during the president's health care address to congress. publicly yelling, "you lie." mr. wilson later apologized for doing that x the president accepted his apology and then called publicly for a more civilized discourse in this country. >> we have to get to the point where we can have a conversation about big, important issues that matter to the american people without vitriol, without name-calling, without the assumptions of the worst in other people's motives. megyn: fast forward to today and what some are calling one of the most negative presidential campaigns in the history, and the obama campaign is now hinting that the president is preparing to launch a new character attack tomorrow night when he faces off against governor romney. joining me now, the man called out for questioning the president's honesty, congressman

joe wilson. he represents the state of south carolina, a district thereof, and sits on both the armed services and foreign affairs committees. congressman, welcome back to the program. we've been showing it -- >> megyn, it's an honor to be with you. megyn: here's just a sampling of what we have seen from team obama in the wake of that first presidential debate in denver. just watch a sample. >> are you saying that governor romney lied or was dishonest? >> well, yeah, i think he was dishonest, absolutely. >> plenty of people have pointed out what a liar mitt romney is and was last night. >> and so if you just lay out lie after lie after lie about your own plan as well as what the president has been talking about, of course you can look good. megyn: do you think that they are applying a different standard now to governor romney than that they demanded of you? >> absolutely, megyn. and, indeed, my son alan identified what i did, it was a spontaneous, town hall moment. what they're saying, and this is the highest levels of the obama

campaign, it took them three days to try to respond to the failure of the president's last exhibit of the issues for our country, and three days later they came back, so it was not spontaneous, it really was a low blow, but i'm confident the american people are going to look at the positive message of governor romney, and he will be elected our new president. megyn: you know, after you made your comments part of the reason you were so criticized was you did that on the floor of the house. do they have a defense to this liar, liar, liar theme because they're not doing that on the floor of the u.s. house? >> well, and, indeed, on the house floor was inappropriate that night. i had a discussion with rahm emanuel that we would discuss the issues, and that's what we've been doing. truly, i think it's inexcusable for the highest levels, axelrod, the statements being made -- and this is being thought out, it's

not spontaneous, and it's just not true -- the american people truly do see that mitt romney has a positive plan to create jobs in our country. megyn: the obama campaign, this is not the first time that thai gone to the -- they've gone to the place of questioning somebody's character. obviously, there's a theme evolving on their part that mitt romney's a liar, can't be trusted. they also earlier in this campaign suggested through the deputy campaign manager, stephanie cutter, that mitt romney could possibly be a felon. here's that. >> either mitt romney through his own words and his own signature was misrepresenting his position at bain to the sec, which is a felony, or he was misrepresenting his position at bain to the american people to avoid responsibility for some of the consequences of his investments. megyn: now, president obama did not, you know, to any extent made public discipline stephanie cutter or apologize for those comments. do you think that there is a double standard here in the way

that he, he wants to be treated and the way he and those who serve him and represent him treat others? >> and, megyn, you're absolutely correct. in fact, we also had harry reid say that governor romney had not paid taxes. i mean, everything that they're stating are personal attacks which are not true. and the good news is, again, i believe that the american people understand that to create jobs in our country, to have a energy policy that works, people do know that gasoline costs $1.83 when the president came to office -- megyn: yeah, i know, those are talking points. i appreciate -- >> oh, but it's true. megyn: we're not going to get into that here. i want to ask you, finally, whether you think this will have a backlash. did you -- was there a backlash against you for that reach of decorum -- breach of decorum, for going to the personal place, and do you think there will be one to the president's team? >> well, people focused it immediately without being threatened or promised, i

apologized one time for interrupting. and so, indeed, i received over half a million letters from people across the united states supportive, and then in the last election my percentage of victory went from 7% to 10%, and that's why i don't even have an opponent today, because the american people and the people of the second district of south carolina know i'm a gentleman, they know that i'm passionate about issues, that i really want limited government, expanded freedom. megyn: interesting. but i wonder if you think you would have gotten that support if you had not apologized for your remarks. >> no, i think that it's very important, as you say, to apologize for a town hall moment. but these people are being very contrived, and i think it's going to backfire on them because the american people know better, they know the truth now. megyn: congressman joe wilson, thanks for being here. >> thank you. megyn: well, there are some dramatic new classroom controversies today as schools in one state consider different standards for students of

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♪ megyn: well, it may have had all the markings of an early halloween prank, but wildlife officials now say that the giant blue eyeball we told you about last week that was discovered on a florida beach likely came from a swordfish. ooh. how did it end up on the beach exactly? well, apparently there's an explanation for that, too, but it's too gross to tell you. oh, no, actually, we are going to tell you. several straight line cuts around the eye suggest it was probably removed and can then discarded by a local fisherman. enjoy your lunch. [laughter] florida's board of education

passing a controversial plan in schools to set reading and math goals based on a student's race. trace has the details, trace? >> reporter: hugely controversial, megyn. remember, the goal of no child left behind was to make sure that every student was reading at grade level or math at grade level or above by 2014. look, it wasn't going to happen. so now the florida board of education is replacing no child left behind with something called cut the gap in half which set it is goals for reading and math based on race. look at these numbers that are so controversial. they say by 2018 the goal is to have 90% of asians reading at grade level, 88% of white students, 81% of hispanic students and 74% of black students. in math the numbers are similar, 92% of asians in math at grade level, 86% of whites, 80% hispanics, 74% of black students. now, the florida department of education says these goals

recognize that every group is not starting at the same place. here are the current reading levels. asians, 76%. you have whites at 69%. hispanics at 53% and african-american students at 38%, so some groups have much further to go. now, supporters say this is a great thing, and i'm quoting here saying: the to meet these goals for latino and african-american students, schools will have to finally and quite deliberately focus more attention and resources on them. but you might imagine there is an outcry on this thing by those who oppose this, calling it racist. the chairwoman of the palm beach county school board said, and i'm quoting here: i'm somewhere between utter disgust and anger and disappointment with humanity. the state board's actions essentially are proclaiming racism. a lot of parents and educators in the same boat there, the

board says it is going ahead with this thing. megyn: wow. all right, trace, thank you. the debate over the moderator has already started. up next, see why both campaigns are raising concerns about cnn's candy you by and how she plans to carry out her duties. and a teenage girl in pakistan to stood up to taliban thugs, an update on her.

megyn: fox news alert. reports that the moderator in tomorrow's night's presidential debate could be going rogue, a development causing unease in both the obama and romney camps for this one thing they agree on. welcome to a brand new hour of "america live", everyone. i'm megyn kelly. in a little more than 30 hours president obama and governor romney will go toe-to-toe in their second presidential debate. this one is a town hall-style format. look at them setting it up with questions coming from the audience. both campaigns are concerned about the debate's moderator, candy crowley. in interviews on her own network, miss crowley

suggests she will not be sticking to what is supposed to be a limited role. she will ask the candidates their own questions if she feels the answer is not consistent with what the questioner was trying to get to. with me, fox news contribute to, sally cohn. there is couple issues. i want to get to you about these issues. i think these are very interesting. first let's tee this up. she agreed, but she didn't agree, that the candidates agreed with the presidential debate commission, she was supposed to be a limited role. romney gets two minutes, obama gets two minutes and one minute for the robust exchange. >> that is what the guys decided without her involved. megyn: she has said on cnn if i want to do a follow up and i will do one and the boys are not happy? >> that is why we have a trained and experienced journalist in that role and not just a mic stand f she

is not allowed to participate in the debate, make sure candidates answer the question, certainly they don't in this election why have her there? this definition of moderator, moderate the discussion and that is what she wants to do and frankly should do. megyn: i have a beautiful hibiscus plant they could put the behind the desk if they are interested in having a potted plant moderate the debate instead after live actual human breathing human being. that is how these things go with these presidential candidates. having moderate ad couple debates with fox they don't like to be out there. they don't want to put themselves out there and asked all these follow-up questions. you got to another point in an opinion piece you posted. suggesting they have given her the vanna white slot, the presidential debate commission has for this debate. what do you mean? >> look, there is two interesting things here. first of all up until 1988 presidential debates were managed by the league of women voters. they actually had a lot of participation from women and women journalists.

the league of women voters got out of the business because they got fed up with candidates trying to dictate terms of the debate. exactly what we're seeing now. since the commission on presidential debates taken over this process, two, there have been count them, two women moderating presidential debates. both times in 1992 and now with candy crowley they have been assigned lesser role of standing there holding the mic for the town hall debate. it is insulting. megyn: because we're too stupid and not as smart as the guys and not as experienced or qualified. >> obviously megyn it is that. 20 years ago the debate commission and defenders could have said there aren't any qualified women or necessarily people of color where the track record is equally as bad in journalism. obviously present company included there are plenty of strong women journalists who could take on the role. megyn: including two they actually selected. >> why aren't they letting them? in the case of candy crowley why on earth are they trying

to tie her hands that she should play a lesser role than mail colleagues moderating debates should insult everyone. megyn: i read your piece. i thought she was calling a spade a cradle. is there any accident they collected women. candy crowley one of the women got debate town hall participants asking questions not, not the moderator and martha raddatz got the vice-presidential debate. meaningful, but don't get me wrong but not as important as the top of the ticket. >> exactly. it has been a 20 years since a wom moderate ad presidential debate? she was moderating carol simpson in 1992 moderated the town hall debate. carol simpson was i was lady with a mic. that is what i was there to do. kind of worst example of tokenism and doesn't give an example. by the way the whole reason candy crowley one of the reasons she was selected a

group of high school girls in new jersey protested there hadn't been any presidential debate moderators in 20 years. megyn: they had to include women in some role. it will take an actual woman getting on the ticket for them to change this, perhaps. >> one on stage at least. megyn: one other question, should she go rogue? she did not agree to the rules. she will be the moderate tore, if you go too rogue and try to pin down a candidate to make him answer the question, maybe you don't get invited back. >> if they continue on the road they get on we'll not get another woman moderating a debate for 20 years anyway. how much trouble can candy crowley cost. she has a duty for women and role models and young girls out there not to be allowed to be put into this position especially she didn't agree to the terms they set behind her back and trying to poison her. megyn: i think she should say something like i would clearly love to make you answer mr. jones' question,

whomever, but i can't because the rules that you and your colleague up there agreed prohibit that. sally. i have to go. >> live tweet her own debate moderating. i don't know. megyn: this is incredible way to run a debate. sally, thank you. >> thank you, megyn. megyn: both president bum and governor romney are working on final debate preps today. the president facing criticism for his. how is governor romney expected to respond to that? chief political correspondent campaign carl cameron live on the set which woe never get, very exciting. because romney is behind closed doors preparing for this debate, president obama. i want to pick up on that. were we too hard on the presidential debate commission? >> no. i don't think candy crowley will go rogue. i've known candy for a long, long time. we shared a awful lot of buses and planes together on campaigns. she will probably reshape what the audience posed in order to get to the core

what each candidate stands for. her role is to facilitate the debate. not to shade it for either side. if any side will get helped by candy crowley's presence, supposed to be the audience and viewing public. she is a pro. she understands that. she will not be throwing bombs. megyn: moderator rephrase the town hall's questioner, questions. that is disrespectful to the actual questioner or person is misunderstood or obfuscated or deflect always nice to have somebody steer them back to the question. >> the aspect whether there are enough women moderators in national debate politics you can debate forever. if you were the moderator or i would be moderator would be hard to keep me silent and referee questions from the audience without asking for a follow-up and looking for clarification. their job is to make themselves look good and sometimes clarification doesn't facilitate that. megyn: right. let's talk about governor romney and the stakes for him tonight. all, week and a half all we've been hearing how

barack obama lost. governor mitt romney won. it was a pummeling. poll numbers have changed. president obama has got to come back. that has to make you a little nervous if you're governor romney who you will be up against tomorrow night? >> absolutely. in fact he was supposed to come to new york this afternoon for a big kickoff after donor retreat happening here in new york. he decided not to do that in order to extend his debate prep today. they will do a morning session today and do a large afternoon session to get him ready which is measure how serious he is taking this. he knows the president is coming at him. the obama campaign made no bones telling people they will try to pick apart his record, rhetoric and proproposals and policies. romney knows. that because this is interactive with the audience the ability to to voters will be measured more intensely tomorrow night than past dedates. -- debates. this time mr. obama and mr. romney will be directly in front of answering questions to voters so they

have to make a question. that has not been one of mr. romney's strong suits. the president is known as affable guy everybody thinks is so terrific and romney has been accused of being a stiff. this is his opportunity to answer questions directly to them and convey across the country that is a very big deal for romney and the president. they have been both working on that. how do you prepare a mock debate for an audience of impromptu questions. megyn: they're not impromptu? >> we hope voters have been working on language and hope something comes up and maybes news for all the voters. what they have to do is not do mock debates one-on-one in the case of the obama campaign someone impersonating mr. romney and vice versa for mr. obama in the romney camp. they have to anticipate what the voters will say and how candy will moderate. we have to presume behind closed doors she might be going a little rogue too. megyn: it is easy to blow off a moderator. jim lehrer, candy crowley.

>> megyn kelly. megyn: very easy to blow me off but much more difficult to blow off a real voter who is undecided who has taken time to show up to participate in the process and likely speaks for thousands perhaps millions of voters that feel the same. >> when we look at most iconic gaffs from either the president or mr. romney more often than not been to voters. when the president said, share wealth, redistribute the wealth. it was to "joe the plumber" before he was president. when mr. romney made biggest gaffs he liked to fire people, that was in front of voters. talking to a strange face that represents so many people is a tremendous amount of pressure. megyn: it can be disconcerting for these guys. president obama, when al gore, you went up against george bush, george w. bush, and the first debate was the debate in which he kept doing the sigh. >> the huffing, right. megyn: people thought he won the debate on paper but lost

it in style akin to what we saw with vice president joe biden the other night. >> you can't be bipolar. megyn: the next debate comes. town hall. >> mr. nice guy. all polite and cordial and looked like he was bipolar. changed personalities. he can't do that. megyn: he needed to overcompensate because by the time he got to the town hall debate he decided to get up in president george w. bush's grill, then governor bush bush's grill to show he was tough. president obama may be under too much pressure now to get tough tomorrow. >> sure. megyn: how does he moderate. >> when al gore strolled into george w.'s personal space. the bush campaign didn't think he would ever do that. he had done it in the senate debates in past. megyn: that is his thing. >> the governor was warned when he washed into his space. he gave them that look of dismissiveness. there will be attempts to do

that. stage craft and use of mannerisms that sort of can convey a sense of leadership or in fact intimidation can come out but the media, the public, has gotten pretty sophisticated in all this. people are saturated. we have all the polls suggest that 95% of likely democrats are enthusiastic about voting for the president. 93% of the republicans are enthusiastic about voting for romney. people know this there is lot riding on it and they're not likely to be fooled by too much tap dancing. megyn: this is my personal prediction. >> personal space. megyn:,000 now you do it to me, the man hug. don't let go. don't let go. don't be the first one to let go. touch the other man's arm. snow your strength. >> candy will break it up. >> see you, karl. carl. we're taking your thoughts. carl too. you can see the second presidential debate live. bret baier and i will coast host our special coverage from hofstra university, 8:55 p.m. eastern time.

stick around for the best analysis on television. 8:55 p.m. it all kicks off here on fnc. we showed you how last hour how the rice has dramatically tightened up. we'll show you the shift in the polls. president obama's handling of the attack in libya. we'll update you. [ male announcer ] there's a better way... v8 v-fusion. vegetable nutrition they need, fruit taste they love. could've had a v8. or...try kids boxes!

megyn: well the state of the presidential race with 22 days to go, multiple polls show governor romney surging, in particular among independents and women voters. in the all-important state of florida, home to 29 electoral votes, governor romney said to lead president obama by nearly three percentage points. this is according to the real clear politics average of all polls. 49.4 to 46.6%. david is the director of the suffolk university political reserve center. david, welcome to the program. you made news last week's on

o'reilly's show, your organization is giving up polling in florida, north carolina, and virginia because you think that those states can safely be put in the romney column, but the latest polls in those three states, by other pollsters show a tightening, showing ppp has a poll, putting romney plus one in florida. romney plus one in virginia and romney plus two in north carolina. so do you stand by your earlier decision? >> well, the fundamentals haven't changed significantly from that broadcast and the ballot test numbers that we look at. the ballot test number is a head number. when you look at those three states the ballot test number average for obama has been, president obama has been 46, 47, 47. megyn, when you think about states that all pollsters given up on, not just me, indiana, which was a state that barack obama won in 2008, no one is polling that and question is why?

and the answer is because his ballot test number is at 40%. missouri, his ballot test number is 45%. that was a state decided by .1 of a percent. 46, 47, 47, aren't very much higher than a state like missouri where very few people are polling. so i think that the trend line that you're seeing is that people are filling in the undecided with mitt romney and barack obama is stable and stuck at 46% ballot test area. megyn: with all, i want to tell our viewers we're having a few hits on our audio thanks to the satellite feed. bear with us. we want to speak with you on the latest on the polls. i want to talk about ohio. everybody says that is the all-important state. governor romney has a path to victory without ohio but it is very difficult. what is your take on the current state of ohio and reality of mitt romney achieving a victory, if he has to without it? >> that's going to be a difficult challenge.

he rarely, he needs to win ohio. everything would have to fall perfectly in terms of the other electoral states, new hampshire, nevada, wisconsin, iowa. so ohio, all roads lead through ohio for mitt romney. barack obama doesn't necessarily have to win ohio because he leads in so many of the other states but, mitt romney, for him to win, needs to, needs to prevail in ohio, and it looks, slightly blue to me and, i think for most pollsters, looking at it, it looks like it's, barack obama's by three to five points, depending on the poll. megyn: you know the romney camp says internal polls says a different story. it is within the margin of error in ohio. the obama team seems to believe that the demographics of that state simply favor them and will continue to. and so, you know, is it, do you see that state as still a genuine horse race, or,

you know, is this all much ado about nothing? if romney is closing in florida, and north carolina and virginia, all these states but he doesn't win ohio, does he have a realistic shot still, david? >> it is going to be very difficult and very challenging. i mean we are planning to poll ohio at least once, maybe twice in the next three weeks. and so, the outcome is going to be key. but you're absolutely right, the demographics are important but you also have early voting that has taken place over the last week. and given, romney's universally acclaimed debate performance that will help him with early voting in ohio. every state is different and every state list as different amount of candidates. one of the things i think you will find about the suffolk university polling we do list all the candidates. in florida, for example, we listed all 12 candidates on that ballot. and that's important because it gives us the opportunity to third party candidates where they may rotate to at

the very end of the campaign. what we're learn, most of the third party candidates their second choice is mitt romney. so that is going to help mitt romney as these third party voters currently rotate to either barack obama or mitt romney. ohio you mentioned as seven. candidates listed on their ballot. colorado has 17 candidate, presidential candidates listed on their ballot. iowa has eight. so every state is different. the dynamics are different in terms of what the ballot questions, who they're drawing out to the polls as well as other statewide races and congressional races. megyn: that is the thing. it can be all about turnout. if one side is more motivated than the other it can make a difference on election day. >> absolutely. megyn: we've already seen that in this race. david, thank you so much. >> my pleasure, thank you. megyn: a teenage girl in pakistan defined bravery when she stood up to taliban thugs that wanted girls to give up schooling all together. we're live in london with the effort to save her life there.

look at this picture. a teacher is suing new york city for injuries he claimed he received from this 6-year-old boy. he said the little tyke gave him such a beat down that the teacher needs emotional therapy. >> it happened. i was not pretty much able to defend myself. if i did i would have lost both my teaching certifications. we are the house when it comes to the big game. yeah. it's his thing. i don't even participate. boom! here it comes! bring it back! bring it home! [ male announcer ] when you combine creamy velveeta with zesty rotel tomatoes and green chilies, you get a bowl of queso that makes even this get-together better.

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megyn: a pakistani teenager shot in the head last week took what they hope is main major step toward recovery. this girl started publicly defying the taliban when she was just 11 years old speaking out against the group's demand that they stop attending school. at that time ban claimed responsibility more an week ago.

that shooting out raged millions across the world and hope that the pakistan will spark its fight against the taliban. live from london. amy kellogg? >> reporter: i heard from pakistan that something good may have come from this tragedy because it really struck a nerve from the people. when you think about the taliban sitting around as they did, as a committee, taking an executive decision to hunt down and attempt to kill a little girl because she advocated education for females and boarding a bus fill of girls on their way back to school asking which one was malala, shooting her at point-blank range and not killing, shooting two other girls, one is in critical condition. the taliban has vowed to kill malala if she survives this. the decision was made to send her to the u.k. because it was deemed she had a decent chance of recovery. it is a big trip for a girl

who remained unconscious in a week. the queen's hospital in birmingham is best in the world at what it does, providing care for children who had saend injury. she was active as you mentioned, megyn, blogging away about life in the valley since she was 11. the taliban were chased out of swat valley they continued to threaten her. this rally was for her yesterday. the taliban continue to be a presence in pakistan. many people simply have enough. the gunning down of a girl who just wanted to see all girls have a chance to get an education has sickened a awful lot of people, megyn. this will be a very long process and there is no promise where it will end up with malala. she just arrived at the hospital so undergoing a series of tests. it's not just her immediate recovery that is of interest and the reason she was sent here but also the long-term recovery both physical and

psychological. we're talking weeks, possibly months, megyn. megyn: it is a tragedy but is it also perhaps an opportunity for the world to pay attention to a grave situation. amy, thank you. new fallout from the terror attack on the u.s. consulate in libya. now critics of the obama administration say, that the administration is passing the buck when it comes to taking responsibility. this in the wake of the vice president's comments the other night and the comments that followed. we'll have a fair and balanced debate next. >> chris, at the top, at the top line level the president of the united states is responsible for everything that happens under his, on his watch. so... [ gasps ] these are sandra's "homemade" yummy, scrumptious bars. hmm? i just wanted you to eat more fiber. chewy, oatie, gooeyness... and fraudulence. i'm in deep, babe. you certainly are. [ male announcer ] fiber one.

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and learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now -- and down the road. i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. megyn: new questions about president obama's response to the terror attack in libya, after a senior member of both the obama administration and the campaign seemed to suggest that the buck stops not at the president's desk but over at the state department. that led to a few political writers asking whether this is quote, secretary clinton being thrown under the benghazi bus? listen to david axelrod, senior advisor to the obama campaign in a testy exchange with our own chris wallace of "fox news sunday". >> let me ask i directly. does the president take personal responsibility for the fact that repeated requests for more security

were made and were rejected. and that may have contributed to the death of those four americans? does he take personal responsibility for that? >> chris, at the top, at the top line level, the president of the united states is responsible for everything that happens under his, on his watch. these were judgements that were made by the security folks at the state department and of course we're going to review that whole process and see how those decisions are made, why those decisions were made and how we, how we adjust in the future to make sure, that we're giving our diplomats the maximum protection we can. megyn: joining me now, doug schoen, former advisor to president bill clinton, pat cad dale, -- pat caddel, former vice sore to president jimmy carter. both co-hosts on fox news channel, sunday at -- >> 5:30 p.m. megyn: what is really going on here? this got started with vice president joe biden's

comments at the debate saying we didn't know the folks at in libya were requesting for security and it spiraled from there. what is really happening, doug? >> we have 25 days to go until the election the obama administration is trying to foist off blame and responsibility, whether it be now the state department, before it was the intelligence community. they're using what i call the sergeant schultz defense, i know nothing. that is what they're trying to do. vice president biden said we didn't know. they have spun that into the white house, not the administration. and bottom line, they're trying to get through the next three weeks plus. megyn: in the mind of the voter does it make any difference whether hillary clinton knew and barack obama didn't, or is it just the administration knew and didn't get the guys -- >> we're not even that far along. look, they're throwing everyone under the bus. the obama -- there is a larger question about leadership here and about presidential leadership. you know, john kennedy, when he took responsibility for the bay of pigs, jimmy

carter on the hostage failure, right? people responded postively to that. this president seems to blame everyone. here's the problem. but you're leading to something else which is the false narrative we discussed before and fox has covered. susan rice went out there on that sunday, almost five shows, including fox, not hillary clinton. there's something going on there. if the press were doing its job, which it's not, they would be all over hillary clinton and they would be all over susan rice --. megyn: brit hume was on fox earlier today and obviously covered the white house for abc news for decades. the way it works for sunday talk shows, the white house sends the person going out. >> megyn, i was sent out of the i suspect pat was as well, by the white house at individual times to deliver very specific messages. not my talking points, their talking points. the bottom line, susan rice was doing as u.n. ambassador what she was told to. megyn: i want to stop you so our viewers understand.

u.n. ambassador works for the state department. the state department just testified they did not believe it was anything other than a terrorist attack. they watched it unfold in realtime. so their person, ambassador susan rice, goes out there to deliver a message not coming from the state department. now we're hearing that it would be the white house that would give the talking point to the ambassador. >> yes i would like to have asked and hear the president, ryan should have asked biden, were you in the room, who made this decision? plus, done len --. megyn: who told her it was a protest, not a video. >> the other problem biden created for them on the fact we didn't know about the security --. megyn: they wanted more security but didn't get it. >> the answer they keep saying on intelligence, no, it was confused. romney if he is smart will race the point should have been raised long ago, if that was the case, why weren't you, mr. president, in the oval office getting to the bottom of this,

instead of not having your national security briefing and going to lazlo birinyi jr. for a fund-raiser. -- las vegas. megyn: hear is the confusing part for the american people. romney shut first and u.s. embassy in cairo. for. obama criticized as well. they say he shoots first and aims later. but that sunday after the attacks, they sent susan rise on to the talk shows to say, this is what really happened. and now, even they admit what she said was totally wrong, completely wrong. had nothing to do with a protest. there wasn't even a protest going on. how could they politically, about shooting first and aiming later when they didn't have to offer any explanation. under explanation, american people, give us time. we'll get to it. >> that's where they were going now.

because they were caught with misstatements, megyn, the answer from the secretary of state, the white house, david axelrod, we're studying, we're investigating, the fbi is looking at it and we want to make sure it doesn't happen again. that translates, 25 days, get through until the election. >> let me say this, if the republicans and romney are so stupid to let them get away with this, this is their answer for everything. we're investigating leaks after the election. crippled national security according to dianne feinstein, put people's lives in dangers. we're investigating everything, except telling the american people the truth. the real problem is what did the president know, when did he know it? right now that question is important. who came up with the false narrative. around by the way --. megyn: what is it based on, i want to ask you, former clinton guy, former clinton guy, hillary clinton is not shrinking violet. >> right. megyn: there is a reason she was not on the sunday talk show. mao maybe she has been thrown under the bus, you tell me, is she likely to

sit there for the next 25 days. >> i read her most recent statement. her most recent statement is we've got to find out what happened, we've got to investigate and we've got to determine what happened and why. she is basically doing the best she can to distance herself in the waning days of a campaign from something that is, pat was indicating, has the potential to bring undo the president. >> and the question for her is, if somebody gets to her and asks her the right questions, which are, were you asked to be on those shows? would you have said that? you were told, -- she is got a problem. megyn: next debate is foreign policy. it is next monday in boca raton, florida. >> yeah. megyn: can he be asked by bob schiefer at that debate, who in the white house, if anyone, told susan rice to go out and say this was about a video. >> yes. who was in the room and they should. the answer is, there is always an excuse. ben franklin said, the line was, people who do nothing but blame other people, it

is only thing they're really good at. this administration, a president about leadership. that is the problem. he is can be asked about this. this isn't away. the only thing that is helping them, that most of the mainstream press, "new york times" this morning, five shows discussed libya. not on the front page. the mainstream media is doing everything it can to save obama. megyn: one point before we go. >> sure. megyn: on that point of accepting responsibility, the president took heat for taking too much responsibility for the bin laden kill. >> right. megyn: and this veteran as group put together this ad was very critical talking about the number of times he said, i, here is just a clip to refresh your memory. here. ♪ . >> i said i that i would go after bin laden if we had a clear shot at him and i did. and i did. and i did. and i did.

megyn: is the white house now setting itself up for a narrative that he is too quick to take the credit but not to take the blame? >> megyn, he is set up for that but pat is correct. the republicans have not seized the opportunity. megyn: but if they do anything like that they will be accused of politicizing the situation as they already are. >> but, look, axelrod is already going to use that anyway if that is their excuse the answer is, the press should be doing this. they should be challenging the press. megyn: press more and more is asking about libya. >> not right now. >> right now the press is in overdrive, writing obama won the debate for tomorrow night. if you can't believe what is going on that's what they're doing. >> obama, is run out the clock, delay, obfuscate and hope questions we've been discussing don't get asked. >>f the press does its job he could be finished with this story. megyn: always interesting getting your take. up next a gym teacher that weighs more than 200 pounds,

claims he sufficient othered pretty big injuries at the little boy screen right. would you look at the screen. the teacher plans to sue. "kelly's court" next. ♪

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megyn: "kelly's court" is back in session. on the docket today, "the hulk"ing public school gym teacher against the first grade student he says beat him up so badly. because. john webster, it 223 pounds. rodrigo carpia. weighs 50 pound. while he may look like an angel his halo turned into horns and chided the boy over horseplay with other students. he then went on a violent rampage that left the teacher with injuries to his ankle and his knee. webster says he is planning to sue the city. he was very strong, kicking me, using like the heel of his little, his feet to kick me in my legs. so, and, you know, he also

bit me several times because like i said i wasn't trying to hold his hands too tight. didn't want to make bruises. he was able to get my hands to his mouth. he was mocking what i was saying when i was speaking to the school aide. megyn: joining me, lis wiehl, and mark i eigler. problem are former prosecutor. lis your fake client is 222 points. he will go into court and says he deserves a bunch of money because 6-year-old50-pounder took him down. >> looks can be deceiving. we both have children. they can be angels and they can be devils. not just this guy. not my client but principal and student saved aid were both kicked and bit by the same little boy. and i feel for this teacher, i really do for my fake client. look, he didn't want to hurt the kid. he could have obviously beaten him up, thrown him away and then he would have lost a teaching certificate.

the kid would have bruises. there would be other lawsuits. the teacher here, my fake client was really trying to do the right thing and defend himself and he really couldn't against a 6-year-old. megyn: he described the injuries and how they happened as follows, mark. listen here. this is the first sound bite. >> acting principal went to take the child and, you know, took him. he spun around and belted me right, directly in my right knee and i was trying to move back away and by the stairs. i heard a big pop to my knee at that point. and, the principal at that time had, the child her custody and i went to the nurse's office. megyn: sounds pretty plausible actually. >> yeah, right. listen he is 5'10", 220 pound. lis forgot to mention he was a tail back when he played in college. >> so what? you want him to beat up the kid? >> two people crushing him. let me finish, lis. i have a 6 -year-old, yes he can be tough. let me tell you something, three people got attacked by

this kid. i'm not saying he is an angel. none of them took the extraordinary recourse to initiate suit, causing him to sit at home for months because he is emotionally distraught? i don't get that from that interview. megyn: now that is the thing. if he had a physical injury because the kid took him out in the knee, he should be compensated for that, right? he shouldn't have to bear the brunt of medical bills, really, lis, the stress? he wants to be compensated for extreme emotional distress put through by a 6-year-old's attack? >> marks make my case for me. because he is former football players, macho guy it has to be distressing not to be able to whack the kid across the face. >> come on, lis. megyn: well, let's not take lis arrest word for it. listen to sound bite number two. >> it is very humiliating. it is, you know, very defaming but at the same time, you know, it's true but you know, i don't have the ability to, you know, sit there and determine, you know, what goes on from this

point out but it happened. i wasn't able to pretty much defend myself. if i did i would have probably lost both my teaching certifications, probably in jail or, you know, things could have happened. so thinking of my future, i decided to act as, in the manner which i did and tried to refrain from hurting the student. megyn: seems like a very credible witness, mark. >> no. see here's where we part company. at the risk of sounding like biden, that's malarkey. he stays home, according to lis because he is so humiliated that he couldn't defend himself against a 50 pound kid? that's where we part company. maybe the kid did get in a good shot to his knee. let's give him that for just one moment. but staying home for several months because he emotionally distraught? i don't see it. this is the money grab. >> doctor told him he needed to stay home another month. school said you have to come back or you lose your job. i'm in limbo. that is his quote. i don't know what to do.

the doctor is telling me one thing. the school is telling me another. >> emotional distress. emotional distress. >> no, it is both. >> i'm not buying it. megyn: i don't know, the emotional distress came is a bit of a stretch. >> throw it out. megyn: lis, mark, thank you. we'll be right back. anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'. or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

>> i felt pretty good. in fact i woke up feeling even better. megyn: because you knew you were coming on america's newsroom. >> what i do, i have a chance to talk to you, megyn. my only regret i can't see you when we're doing interview. megyn: watching on tivo. your staff has it on now. always a pleasure to see you. >> come back to washington. we miss you. never mind the high life in new york. >> that ain't happening. megyn: he has a window to my

soul. senator, all the best of luck to you. >> we'll send you an autographed photo, senator. will that do it for you? >> she is staying in new york. send megyn. never mind and autographed photo. megyn: senator, great to see you. >> well, thank you for the invitation. when, he was, when i said wait a minute, wait a minute, the guards were trying to restrain him and, push him out of the place and i was saying wait a minute, let him have his say. and he finally had his say. he brought his fist pretty close to my nose. i stood my ground. and there was democracy. megyn: that was former pennsylvania senator arlen specter in his own words. just a couple of his many appearances with me here on fnc. senator specter died every the weekend at the age of 82, after a long battle with non-hodgkins lymphoma. he caused controversy later in the when he switched

parties and lost his senate seat. he spent most of his life to public service and making had this country a better place. he had done everything. been everywhere and met everyone. i am proud to say i consider him a friend and i will miss him. chief washington correspondent jim angle joins me with more? jim? >> reporter: hello, megyn. arlen specter, a man whose loyalties straddled did both political parties. he was longist serving senator in pennsylvania history. >> senator specter had at times unique ability to upset folks on either side of the aisle. >> i guess you would say a maverick's maverick. he was definitely a individual in and of himself. he never backed down from a fight. >> reporter: he was also at the center of major political developments for 50 years, starting with the warren commission, which was investigating the kennedy assassination of course. now, previously a democrat he was elected to the senate in 1980 as a republican

where he served on the judiciary committee irritating both republicans and democrats. >> it was his questioning and his tenaciousness, saw the defeat of robert bork. and on the other side, a little while later, it was his penetrating questioning of anita hill that saw the confirmmation of clarence thomas, much to the anger of many women, many moderates, many democrats. >> reporter: later as chairman of judiciary he helped shepard john roberts and samuel alito to confirmation. in 2009 he supported the obama stimulus plan which brought a republican challenger patrick toomey. specter simply changed parties giving a huge boost to the administration. >> clearly he is going to be remembered for switching parties in 2009 from republican to democrats to give the democrats their 60th vote in the senate that helped them get health care passed. >> reporter: the party switch didn't work.

he was defeated by democrat joe sestak in his final year. in the final years he was plagued by tumors and disease but never missed a single session in the senate he loved. megyn, go ahead. megyn: thanks jim. we'll be right back